


Murphy 2.0

by Hawkscape



Category: RoboCop (Movies 1987-1993), RoboCop - All Media Types
Genre: Anne Lewis is a good partner, Cybernetics, Dogs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hugs, Talking, only first movie happend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27680290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkscape/pseuds/Hawkscape
Summary: After the events of the first movie, Alex Murphy's life changed for the better, but anything was better then being dead or a soulless cyborg. However, he still thinks of his lost family and wonders if finding them again is for the best.Is he even the person they lost anymore?Lewis helps.[aka I watched RoboCop 1987 and it was sadder then anticipated and I gotta fix that]
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Murphy 2.0

Murphy wasn't really Alex Murphy. Even before OCP attempted to wipe all his memories to make him nothing but an enforcement machine, he had been shot in the head and dead for a significant period of time. He wasn't the machine they tried to make him but he wasn’t who he had been. He guessed Murphy was the best name as any.

At least with everything that had happened with Jones, it wasn't hard to convince the chairman of OCP to decommission Murphy as a full-time robotic servant and give him a body that wasn't as clunky and obviously false. It was still clear something was off about him, but he was inconspicuous enough to be able to exist without drawing a crowd. 

When his story came out, as it was bound to, he went from being a symbol of the future of police safety to a symbol of the horrors of public service privatization and militarization. The incongruity of police upholding the law at the expense of helping people.

A man who was barely grasping his humanity back was now the symbol of it and not made to process it. Luckily, Lewis was there to serve as his partner through all this. Keeping the news off of him and making sure no one could put words in his stiff mouth.

And making sure he always had someone to understand him. Especially as they were still partners and still working on the force as the best team they had. Especially since Lewis now had certain robotic organs from her run in with Boddicker.

Crime was down, plans for Delta City were delayed, and everyone who had been responsible for Alex Murphy's death had been stopped.

But he still felt off.

And Lewis could tell.

They were suiting up to go out on patrol one day when she finally said something about it. 

Lewis was making sure her gun was loaded and the belt was sitting on her hips the way she liked it. “...-And I said, that better be some good pizza for five dollars a slice. Can you believe that, Murphy?”

She heard silence. Her partner was usually stoic, but also normally gave her some kind of hum or indication he was listening. This was just silence. Or as close as he could get. Even if he looked mostly human now, he still let off robotic whirrs and ticks. She hesitated and looked at him as he stared into his locker, not seeming to be looking at anything. But again, that was hard to tell with him as his pupils didn't dilate normally.

She hesitated. “Sorry, Murph, I forgot about the...food thing. Can't you talk to the doc about alternatives? Stuff that tastes better?”

The cyborg blinked and turned his head to face her before his eyes seemed to actually focus on her. “I’m not...offended,” he said in the slow deliberate way he said everything. “Got lost in thought.”

“Don't hurt yourself, buddy.” Her face turned serious. “But uh really, you don't get so unaware that often. Something wrong?”

He was silent for a moment as he continued to mechanically fasten his gear and equipment. He was still mostly bulletproof, but he had to trade some of his built-in armor for size and maneuverability. “I still think about Murphy's family...my family.” It was still hard for him to slot together who he had been and who he was now.

Lewis sighed and walked over to him, putting a hand on his ever-stiff shoulder. “Are you thinking about trying to track them down?”

The cyborg blinked as he closed his locker with a soft and distinct click. Lewis noticed a small piece of charred paper with three happy faces stuffed in the corner of the otherwise impersonalised cubby. “Would that be...advisable? Murphy is dead. That Murphy.”

Lewis nodded sympathetically as they walked out of the room towards the car. “Well, if his...your wife moved on to someone else, that might be hard to deal with, even for you, but your kid definitely still misses you.” She ran a hand through her hair and fluffed it up before putting her helmet on and sliding in the car. She drove, he always took the streets marked on the maps and would never bend traffic laws. He was also a better shot. “I don't know. I guess maybe as long as they understand you’re not...exactly the same. It's like you've come back from war, ‘cause you have, every day. You're still Murphy but...different. Need some adjusting.”

She tried to parse his facial expressions to find out what he was thinking, despite knowing his facial expressions were growing, but limited at best. He mostly just looked blank whatever he was thinking. “It might be...an emotional shock.”

She couldn't help but blow air out her mouth as she drove out the dark tunnel. “Can say that again…” She shook her head. “Sorry. Yeah, but would it be worth it? That's what you gotta ask. Since all of this came out, they might already know if they were keeping up with the news, but since they moved away...wouldn't find it odd if she deliberately ignored anything related to Detroit or the police.”

They were silent as they drove through the dirty streets of the city. “I could find her in the police database. She is still getting checks from the department for his death.”

She furrowed her brow. “Really? That's unusually kind of them. You’d think they’d take any bureaucratic loophole they could to screw you.”

“I made sure when I filled out my reinstatement forms. Classified coming back from the dead as disability pay.”

Anne coughed in shock. “What code is that?”

“I had to file for a new one.”

She blinked. “You must really like to fill out forms. Gives me a headache.”

“They are hard to sign, but understanding them has become a lot...easier with my implants.” He still had some problems with fine motor control.

“Luckily, you don't get tested for handwriting to get on the DPD…” She trailed off. “That's a good thing you did... making sure of that, I mean.”

Murphy spoke evenly like he did most things. “One of the few things I remember...they loved him and he loved them...I still feel it somehow.”

She spoke unusually seriously and quietly. “You afraid coming back will open up old wounds?”

“Yes.”

She huffed. “Well...you know what I think?” He didn't ask, but he looked at her. “I think you need to heal too, and if dealing with what you used to be and tying up those strings will help that...I think you should at least try.” She realized she might have overstepped and overfocused on slowing down for the light. “But that's just my opinion. It's your life. Don't gotta let anyone tell you what to do anymore.”

They sat in silence as Murphy stared out the window looking for crime, but also observing all the domestic people and scenes around him. “Would you...assist me?”

She blinked. “With finding out where they are?”

“...Talking to them. As backup.”

She smiled and glanced at him. “Yeah Murphy. No problem.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a nice day and an even nicer day now that they were out of the city and more into the country. Turns out, Ellen Murphy lived a few hours away. Anne provided the car and Murphy drove, content to let her fiddle with the radio and doze in the passenger seat. It was hard to stop himself from attempting to pull over any speeders he saw as it would ping in his vision every time, but he wasn't on duty. Not officially. Might have left a dent in the steering wheel from the strain.

Eventually they were there. A pleasant little side street with a large yard. The stop woke Lewis up. She grunted. “We here?” She looked around. “Oh, wow this is...picturesque.”

They got out of the car and walked up to the front door adorned with Halloween decorations and a car in the driveway. His face looked blank as ever, but his jaw was tenser then normal as Lewis looked at it. She patted his arm. “Right here with you, buddy.”

“Thank you.” He nodded before knocking on the door. The cop knock that could wake the dead. He possibly didn't know how to knock any other way anymore.

They heard a dog bark inside. “Kipper! Ssh- Kipper, calm down.” The cyborg tensed even harder at the voice. The door cracked open slightly and a woman's face showed out. “Ye-'' Her voice caught in her throat.

Murphy's jaw seemed to be stuck shut.

Lewis came to his rescue. “Miss Ellen Murphy?”

“Alex?” She whispered out before putting a hand over her mouth as her eyes watered before she shut the door and undid the chain before opening again, waiting a little too long while composing herself. She breathed shakily as she looked at him up and down. He looked off. The face was similar, but everything else was off in some way.

She looked more tired than she did in his memories. But he only had a few of them.

“It's you, isn't it? Please say something.” Ellen said softly trying to keep her voice from breaking.

He desperately tried to reset his jaw until he worked, defaulting to his base programming. “Hello, Ma’am. I believe we need to...talk.”

She sniffed and her face twisted up. “Oh god, they did turn you into a robot, those bastards.” She gripped the door tighter; it was unclear if she was about to close it on them when a small voice spoke up behind her.

“Who is it, mom? Is it Tom? Can I go play with him?” The small child ran into the room with a small toy blaster. He looked past his mom and his face fell. “...Dad?”

Ellen looked horrified. “Danny, go-“

“Dad!” The small boy sprinted past his mom and ran to Murphy, jumping and trying to hug him. The man seemed to have a muscle memory as he automatically bent down and opened his arms before freezing as Danny threw his arms around his neck and he realized what he was doing. “Dad! T-hey said you got s-hot and that you were-'t coming ba-ack bu- I knew you were gonna come ba-ck b-because the he-ero always comes back and-“ He then dissolved into un-understandable sniffling as the cop continued artificially breathing and finally put his arms around him.

“Hello Danny.” 

The woman tried to step forward. “Danny, no he-“

Lewis stepped forward and put a hand up gently. “He's not a robot. He's a cyborg. He's still…Alex.”

The woman hesitated as Murphy stood up, picking up the kid in his arms as he did so, still clinging to his neck. He pulled back slightly. “Th-hought I was too big to-pick up anymo-ore.”

Murphy couldn't really recall ever saying that but he didn't doubt he had. “I got...new arms.”

He looked in awe, still crying. “Y-you can do that?”

“It’s...difficult.”

Danny continued to sniffle but seemed to take the answer.

“May we come in?” Lewis asked. She looked at all of them before nodding slowly and opening the door further to let them in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They all stood in the kitchen. Ellen had mostly composed herself or was just trying to keep it together in front of Danny. “Danny, we need to have an adult talk, please go watch TV.”

The child whined and clung harder to Murphy's neck. “Nooo! I wanna stay with dad.”

Murphy shifted and set him down. “Listen to your mother, Danny.”

The child whined again, not letting go of him. He could easily pry the child off of him but he would rather not. “Nooo! You'll leave again and and-and-“ He trailed off starting to tear up.

“Danny.” Ellen tried to step in.

Murphy gently put a hand on the boy's shoulder. “I promise I won’t leave without saying goodbye.”

He scrunched up his face. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

Danny still seemed hesitant, not wanting to let go of the man’s shirt. The cyborg smiled in what he hoped was a normal way. “I’ll show you a trick if you do.”

He tilted his head and sniffled. “A trick?”

He nodded a little robotically. “Can I see your blaster?”

The kid nodded and handed it over eagerly. The man held it in his hands, the weight wildly off from his normal pistol. Luckily he could use his computers to calculate how to do this. He spun the gun forward and backwards a few times as Danny's eyes went wide and he smiled. “Whoa!”

Murphy's face ticked up into a small smile. He spun it some more and pointed it forward. “Bang.”  
Danny giggled and made grabby hands. “I wanna try!”

He handed the gun back and the kid hesitated before walking towards the tv room and finally disappearing, but not before looking over his shoulder.

Murphy stood up before turning back to Ellen. She was clutching her chest. “You are him.”

Murphy nodded slightly. “Not the same but...partially. Brain was severely damaged. Personality altered. But I still remember...you both.”

She sniffed and nodded before stepping forward hesitantly. “Can I...hug you?”

The cyborg nodded and accepted the hug. It was stiff, but some part of him remembered doing this. Remember the happiness and calm and love associated with it. She sighed shakily and pulled back, seemingly just as reluctant to let go of him fully as Danny was. “How much did they...replace?”

“Approximately 51.8%.”

She frowned. “How horrible.” She trailed off and stepped back. “Alright, let's talk.” She turned to Lewis. “And you...I remember seeing you at the memorial service. You were his new partner when he…” 

Lewis nodded. “Still his partner now. Anne Lewis, glad to meet you under better circumstances.”

Ellen nodded trying to bury down the long held resentment she had held for the partner that had let Murphy die, but if Alex trusted her, she did too. “Want some coffee? Can you...drink coffee?”

“Tea please.” Murphy asked. It was mostly water anyway.

“Black, if you can.” Anne smiled.

And it was almost normal. It wasn't, but it was better then it had been.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments fuel me!  
> Feel free to message me!  
> I also make drawings and animations!  
> https://www.youtube.com/c/HawkScape  
> http://hawkscape.deviantart.com/


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